QUICK NEWS, 3-11: CLOSING IN ON ENERGY/CLIMATE BILL?; 300 MW SOLAR PV POWER DEAL; SENATE BILL BOOSTS OFFSHORE WIND; LA UPS POWER RATE FOR NEW ENERGY

CLOSING IN ON ENERGY/CLIMATE BILL?
Kerry Says ‘Great Deal’ of Consensus Reached on Climate Policy
Catherine Dodge and Kim Chipman (w/Simon Lomax, Laurie Asseo and Don Frederick), March 10, 2010 (Bloomberg News via BusinessWeek)

"Senator John Kerry said a bipartisan group of lawmakers achieved a ‘great deal of consensus’ on energy policy…and he’s moving ‘rapidly’ to introduce legislation…14 senators agreed action was needed to promote U.S. energy independence, create jobs in clean energy and cut pollution…[at a] meeting with President Barack Obama…

"Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, [Independent Connecticutt Senator Joseph] Lieberman and Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, are working on compromise legislation after proposals for a broad emissions- trading program drew criticism from both parties…[Also at the] meeting were Obama Cabinet members including Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers…"

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"The president didn’t specify a desired timeline for legislation, and said the group should meet again [soon, according to Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state]…Lieberman said lawmakers plan to complete a draft of climate-change legislation this month before taking an Easter break. Republicans insisted the measure should be narrower than a House-passed bill.

"[Energy independence and climate legislation are priorities for him,] Lieberman said…Kerry said Obama made it clear there needs to be a price on carbon, the substance linked by scientists to global warming, to create jobs and make the U.S. more energy independent…"

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"Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said before the meeting that Obama should give up on legislation that sets greenhouse-gas limits and support a bill that boosts renewable electricity generation and U.S. oil and gas production…Cantwell said [that isn’t the President’s choice right now]…

"Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said before the meeting she would encourage Obama to abandon the broader legislation passed by the House…[authorizing] a ‘cap-and-trade’ system to curb fossil-fuel emissions while creating a market for trading pollution permits and funding investment in new energy sources…"


300 MW SOLAR PV POWER DEAL
First Solar Signs Contract with PG&E for 300 MW Photovoltaic Solar Power Project
March 10, 2010 (Business Wire via MarketWatch)

"First Solar, Inc…announced a power purchase agreement to supply Pacific Gas and Electric Company with renewable electricity from a 300 megawatt (AC) utility-scale photovoltaic solar power facility that First Solar is developing in Southern California.

"The Desert Sunlight project, to be located near Desert Center in eastern Riverside County, Calif., will have a total capacity of 550 megawatts, enough to power approximately 160,000 area homes…The other 250 MW portion of the project is already under contract to Southern California Edison. First Solar's power purchase agreements with PG&E and SCE are subject to the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission."

The Desert Sunlight project will be FIFTY-FIVE times as big as this First Solar installation. (click to enlarge)

"First Solar will build the Desert Sunlight project using its industry leading thin-film photovoltaic solar modules and providing its project development, engineering, procurement and construction capabilities. With construction expected to start by the end of 2010 and completion as early as 2013, the project will displace 300,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of taking 60,000 cars off the road. It will also create approximately 430 construction jobs. The project's permit application has been fast tracked by the Bureau of Land Management…

"First Solar has 1,700 megawatts of utility-scale power projects with power purchase agreements in North America…[Its] advanced semiconductor technology and provides comprehensive photovoltaic (PV) system solutions…From raw material sourcing through end-of-life collection and recycling, First Solar…[creates] cost-effective, renewable energy solutions that protect and enhance the environment…"


SENATE BILL BOOSTS OFFSHORE WIND
Senate Bill Expands Offshore Wind Incentives to 2020
March 10, 2010 (Sustainable Business)

"US Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced legislation that would extend production and investment tax credits for offshore wind power until 2020.

"The Carper-Snowe-Brown-Collins Offshore Wind Bill would provide the offshore wind industry greater stability, because of the long lead times required to permit and construct wind turbines offshore, compared to onshore wind energy."

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"Offshore wind includes any wind turbine located in the inland navigable waters of the United States, including coastal waters and the Great Lakes…

"According to the University of Delaware, the winds off the Atlantic Coast have the potential of generating 330 gigawatts (GW) of power. That is enough power to replace about 300 dirty, large coal plants and enough power to support nine states from Massachusetts to North Carolina."

Offshore wind is especially valuable because it is adjacent to population concentrations. (click to enlarge)

"A number of proposed offshore wind projects are moving through the development process--including projects in Delaware, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. Projects have also been discussed off the shores of Maine and the Great Lakes states.

"In Delaware, NRG Bluewater Wind has estimated it will create 1,200 jobs during construction--and approximately 300 jobs for operation and maintenance throughout the life of the project…[The Senators] are also working on additional legislative measures to support and expand emerging offshore wind initiatives."


LA UPS POWER RATE FOR NEW ENERGY
Los Angeles Electric Rate Linked to Solar Power
Jennifer Steinhauer, March 10, 2010 (NY Times)

"Los Angeles averages more than 300 days of sunshine a year, and it often seems as if environmentalists outnumber rattlesnakes in many parts of the sprawling city. It would seem, then, that solar energy would be a thriving local industry here…But that has never been the case, and experts cite cost as the main reason.

"Now, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest municipal utility in the United States, is poised to pass a roughly 5 percent rate increase on electricity use. The proceeds would be earmarked for renewable energy purchases and programs…The commission that governs the utility, which is losing about $6 million a week or an estimated $500 million by the end of the 2011 fiscal year, is expected to vote next week to increase by seven-tenths of 1 cent the current user rate of 12 cents per kilowatt hour…[It] is subject to a City Council vote if the Council chooses to do so…"

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"…[Part of the money] would go to renewable energy sources, like wind farms, and to help subsidize a program that would essentially repay solar-panel users for feeding energy into the power grid…[T]he rate increase…is equivalent to a carbon tax because all consumers will see rates fall as the city becomes less reliant on coal-powered energy…Tax increases are a political third rail right now in California, where unemployment remains high, wages flat and the economy still sluggish. But Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa and his staff are billing the increase as a move that will bring jobs to the city…There are so few solar panel manufacturing companies in the city, mayoral aides have had to scramble to find an appropriate place to announce the new plan later this week…

"Under the proposed program, Los Angeles would take a big step toward Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggar’s larger goal of one million solar roofs in California by 2018, through state incentive programs. Between $150 million and $160 million per year of the new tax proceeds would be put aside to invest in coal-alternatives for energy use in the city…The money would also be used to help pay for what is known as a feed-in tariff, under which the utility will pay a set rate for electricity from customers who install solar panels. European countries have had mixed results…with feed-in tariffs."

The Mayor is counting on the fact that LA is willing to pay for New Energy. (click to enlarge)

"The city would also offer more incentives to users who get solar panels from panel makers in Los Angeles — a practice known as local preference — which…would give such companies incentive to open up shop here…The city would adopt an increasingly popular program in which homes undergo an energy audit and their owners borrow money from the government to make them more efficient.

"…Severin Borenstein, a co-director of the Energy Institute at the Haas School of Business at the University of California… gave the proposed tax increase a mixed review…[approving of] long-term contracts for renewable energy…[but saying the feed-in tariff for solar power is not a good use of money because of the high costs]…Californians have been squeezed by high unemployment and fee increases, and Los Angelenos may not cotton easily to a rate increase…"